Whereupon My Party Asked Me to Run "Rappan Athuk" RAW, and I Hedged My Bets

Yes, the party fought off a random encounter of 7 Giant Rats.
Now they want to find the Pot of Copper at the Rat Nest ;)

RAW - "Run As Written". It's also turned into "Really? Oh Well :( " for my group in the past.

Last night we kicked off the Rappan Athuk part of our AD&D 1e campaign, and my players, initially half in jest but then suddenly serious, suggested I ran Rappan Athuk RAW. The last gaming material I had run RAW was the uncompleted Dwimmermount, and that left a sour taste in our mouths (and a new meme running around the wilds). Admittedly  the material we had for Dwimmermount was incomplete and Rappan Athuk is complete and published, but I don't wish to risk a repeat.

Besides, that, my party is 3rd and 4th level, and they are going into Rappan Athuk through a side entrance dozens of miles away from the main entrance. They are, as written, a bit overpowered for the dungeon section they are in.

So, I compromised.

I would leave the flavor text and treasures as they were, but I would be allowed to adjust the monsters' numbers and HP to maintain a challenge.

It went remarkably well. Truth to tell, it went beyond my expectations. Heck, my herd of cats went from old town to new outpost, gathered info on dungeon location, hired a handful of men at arms, were ambushed by a pack of gnolls (and interrogated a survivor), entered the dungeon, explored approximately 40% of the level and found stairs down - all in less that 2 1/2 hours of actual play.

Amazingly productive. Fucking remarkable.

The comments at the end of the session? They actually enjoyed the traps and tricks, as they were conquerable with some trial and error and thinking. Even the ones that nabbed them. Or dropped them. Or got them stuck.

They were, to a man, excited to play the next session and learn more of Rappan Athuk. Or maybe they were just looking forward to killing more things and taking their stuff.

In either case, we seem to have found their Megadungeon niche.